Good morning. Just came back from jogging, and am going to a picnic at the British Embassy now. I just wanted to share this quote that I found:

"Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar."

- Drew Carey

L8er :)

I'm back! And I have some time to blog now, Diana is packing because she's flying to Munich tomorrow. Timing. It's all about timing.

A first: Finally I remembered something I wanted to blog! I did think about something to blog when we were driving here. You see, we had lots of tapes and I had discovered a bag of old ones that I taped to take to America last November which we never listened to because we had a CD player in the car - but that's a different story altogether and shall be told another time. Or not. Anyway, so my tapes were a little bit on the "surprise" side as I did not recall what exactly I had taped (I was tired and it was the day before we wanted to leave - I was late and unprepared as ever, so I taped and taped instead of doing constructive things). Are you still following me?

We're in the car with lots of mystery tapes is what I am saying. So it's late at night, I am driving, everybody is nodding off and the They Might Be Giants tape cranks over to its other side..and it's my Cinerama tape. And this is what I thought of then: I have no ear whatsoever for music. Usually, I listen to it politely, nod and say: "uh-huh" when somebody asks me what I think. Some music I like better than others but I am usually not sure how to react and just wait for others to say whether they like it or not and then I just agree. For example, U2 never did anything for me. Since everybody liked them I figured they were OK to listen to. Bought a U2 CD. Best of. Sometimes I'll buy a CD because I think one should buy CDs once in a while. Most of the time I don't listen to them. I also have trouble telling bands and/or songs apart. This can sometimes be really embarrassing when you start dancing and going "yeah, yeah" and it's some crap that nobody in their right mind would listen to. Then it's time to do a quick double take and pretend you've been making fun of people who enjoy crap like that.

What I can't stand though: I hate "German Top Ten Crap", because when even I can tell it sucks it must really suck. Boo Mr. President! And I don't like dissonant music - discovered again that Bjork will cause my inner ear to constrict in pain. Also free jazz.

But!!! and here's the But!!! (no butt jokes now, I implore you). But!!! once in a while a CD comes along that speaks to me. I don't know why, it just sounds lovely and I listen to it over and over again. It's just a visceral reaction, I don't know what causes it. And my Cinerama CD (Disco Volante, by the way) is one that I really love. Love, love, love. So I am driving along, there's a little bit of sunlight coming up over the horizon, I am singing along (rather quietly so as not to disturb the others - I can't sing in tune if my life depended on it) to Because I'm Beautiful and I'm loving my Cinerama tape even more. Other CDs that come to mind by the way are my Counting Crows August and Everything After or the new Coldplay album. Also They Might be Giants' Flood (I have lots of their stuff but none ever reached the status of the first CD I ever bought). Of the old days: a-ha Hunting High and Low.

There's also classical music...the overture of "La nozze di Figaro" for example. I really liked "Trading Places" (the film with Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy for those young 'uns who only think of home decoration) the second it started because it started with that song. Or Wagner. I don't quite know why I liked Wagner - I thought only people who wear brown a lot and have their hair parted on the side liked Wagner. But I did, too. And trite, trite, trite - but I do love the Ode to Joy. To make another connection to the wide world of movies: I once saw a really crappy film about Beethoven - Gary Oldman was Beethoven, I think and the film professed Beethoven was deaf because his father used to hit him on the ear. Nuff said. But anyway, there was one scene I liked. Father Beethoven had whacked his son (then not Gary Oldman but some unknown child actor) upside the head, he (Beethoven, not the father) ran outside. It was night and he went to a lake, laid on his back and looked up into the stars. You saw the stars, the stars' reflection in the lake and heard Ode to Joy. I always think of that when I hear it. Floating in a pool of stars.

That was what I was thinking about, driving to Berlin at night, avoiding trucks that swerve out into your lane trying to hit you.

What else? Baby Olivia was really cute, if a bit cranky today. Trixi says she usually is quiet and well-behaved. That's what I'd say, too, if it was my baby :) No, Trixi, she probably is..I believe you. Saw a Roadster. They're really trying to lure me in, they're even sending them to Berlin now.

I sneakily use the computer here as I didn't think to ask Diana yesterday but I hope she won't mind. Arrived here late yesterday and also forgot to ask her whether she could give me a key, duh. Now I am either stuck here or outside, depending on what I decide. But I think I'll go and visit Trixi and baby. If I sit here I could have sat at home as well.

Eeek. Blogger hasn't been working yesterday and today everything looks different. Change. It's difficult to accept. Since I did not get to blog yesterday you missed out on lots of interesting stuff *snicker* (of course not). Actually I was on a roll and finished inputting all the data for my final paper. Yay me! Now I just need to figure out what the data means and write the damn thing.

I'm actually at work and don't have a lot of time - just wanted to let you know that I'm going to the capital with Jule rather spontaneously (Well, I'm spontaneous, I don't know whether Jule did lots of planning beforehand). But then again, 'spontaneous' is my middle AND first name. Spontaneous-Mon. I'll visit Diana and get to meet Baby Olivia in person. Darn, I wanted to borrow Silke's camera. Oh well, no pictures then. If I can coax Diana into letting me use her net access I can give you updates on life in Berlin. Which I probably will. So ta-ta for now and carry on, Jeeves.

Fixed the link on the Journalist thingie, if you feel like answering questions in German that neither me nor Ulisch can answer. Just returned from the gym. I go to the same Tae Bo class every tuesday (you might remember me telling about having to kick with both feet at the same time). Class is instructed by "lithe, limber and other things starting with l" Daniel. And there is this one lady who's there every time. She's about 50 years old, wears more make-up than KISS and - as I discovered today - she's wearing a push-up bra (we're talking about sports here, mind you). And she never leaves Daniel's side for even one minute. So we were wondering if she has the hots for him or if she actually is his mother or something. We christened her the "Sugar-Momma", just in case. Sad, sad, sad. I think I'd rather be CrazyCatLady

Other than that, I'm sad to report that I myself am neither lithe nor limber. Today Daniel-San wanted us to sit cross-legged and then lift everything off the floor just standing on our hands. I thought that was rather silly, so I chose to fall on my back, pretending to be a dead bug. Much more fun. Well, at least Daniel laughed. If I had chosen to go into close contact sports, I would have been one of the Great Ones because my enemies would have died laughing upon seeing me attempt the Crane. Hiiiii - Ya!!!

And finally...every town should have one of those. I bet Sulivan would like one.

On second thought, where else is it supposed to rain? Jus' sayin'.

Did not feel like posting yesterday and still do not really have anything to say. I'm still sick which I hate, it's raining outside and my outlook on the day is rather bleak at the moment. Did the Journalist Quiz again, knew nothing. My inbox contains only a gazillion spam mails. If you have anything to cheer me up, feel free to share.

Just now my monitor decided it wants to work again, after it flickered this morning and just went out. Great. I sincerely hope it'll work tomorrow, I have to get some work done. Don't want to do it now, have a bit of a headache due to intent reading of the new Harry Potter. Finished it, too. Here are my thoughts (behold the miracle that is inviso-text. if you don't want to know, don't highlight. am not giving away information too crucial, though.):

It was a bit on the longish side, the plot sort of meandered all over the place. I didn't think it had quite the structure of the previous books. Still was fun to read. It didn't keep me riveted to the book like the fourth one did or made me shiver under my blankets like the third one did. I still was intrigued enough to read it straight through. Had to laugh out loud several times, too, it was quite funny sometimes.

SPOILER
Cried about Neville and his parents, but I always cry about all things Neville. The scene where he wins the House Cup in the first novel always makes me misty eyed and choked up. Didn't cry about the death, though. Won't mention who dies even invisible, don't want to give anything away. That was so rushed and strange I didn't come to feel anything. Still think he's coming back.

Some people were behaving strangely out of character, which I found odd. Harry Potter was behaving strangely out of character, but I think that was intentional as he's in the grip of puberty-induced hormonal ups and downs. But Cho was behaving strangely, and Sirius, too. Thankfully, not a lot of Dobby. A cool new witch, though. And I liked what they did with James Potter and Professor Snape, because I always liked Snape somehow.
SPOILER

Lots of things didn't get explained, so there's plenty of plot to go around for the next book. I certainly hope she will finish the series sometimes (it was always said she had everything worked out). Not like other authors I could mention here. If any of you has never read a Wheel of Time book, you probably should keep it that way.

[aside]

Robert Jordan's on what? the twelfth installment now, the story's not going anywhere, sometimes he doesn't mention a main character the whole book, secondary characters have been introduced like there's no tomorrow, and everything's so convoluted that by the time the new book comes out you clear forgot what all the other books were about. And I still haven't figured out who the "Man who called himself Bors" (At least in this part of the world) was.

[/aside]

Back to Harry Potter, I really would like the story to go somewhere with not a lot of loose ends and loopholes. Well, we'll see how that works out.

Other than that, I still am a bit sick which is stupid because I can't go running and I see my participation in the Munich City Run endangered. Hopefully, I can try running again tomorrow. The "cold" or whatever it is gets on my nerves, as it just drags on and makes me feel slightly miserable, not enough to be full-blown sick but enough to prevent me from doing things. I didn't go to the Southside festival, too and also thought it better not to go to the lake today like I had planned to. Maybe tomorrow. No, I really shouldn't.

Oh, and I watched the Dawson's Creek series finale yesterday. Well, I tried to but I fell asleep sometime during the second episode (It's a two-parter). Rather boring. Then again, I haven't been watching Dawson's Creek for ages now, so I guess watching the finale was kinda pointless. But they said it was fun. They lied. It wasn't. Wonder why my monitor held out then. I woke up when the credits were rolling and turned everything off.